by Victor Hugo
CHAPTER VII.
A FEW PROFILES FROM THE SHADOW.
During the six years between 1819 and 1825 the prioress of LittlePicpus was Mademoiselle de Blémeur, called in religion MotherInnocent. She belonged to the family of that Marguerite de Blémeurwho was authoress of the "Lives of the Saints of the Order of SaintBenedict." She was a lady of about sixty years, short, stout, andwith a voice "like a cracked pot," says the letter from which we havealready quoted; but she was an excellent creature, the only merrysoul in the convent, and on that account adored. She followed in thefootsteps of her ancestress Marguerite, the Dacier of the order; shewas lettered, learned, competent, versed in the curiosities of history,stuffed with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and more a monk than a nun. Thesub-prioress was an old Spanish nun, almost blind, Mother Cineres. Themost estimated among the "vocals" were--Mother Saint Honorine, thetreasurer; Mother Saint Gertrude, first mistress of the novices; MotherSaint Ange, second mistress; Mother Annunciation, sacristan; MotherSaint Augustine, head of the infirmary, the only unkind person in theconvent; then Mother Saint Mechtilde (Mlle. Gauvain), who was young,and had an admirable voice; Mother des Auges (Mlle. Drouet), who hadbeen in the convent of the Filles Dieu, and that of the Treasury nearGisors; Mother Saint Joseph (Mlle. de Cogolludo); Mother Saint Adelaide(Mlle. D'Auverney); Mother Miséricorde (Mlle. de Cifuentes, who couldnot endure the privations); Mother Compassion (Mlle. de La Miltière,received at the age of sixty, contrary to the rule, but very rich);Mother Providence (Mlle. de Laudinière); Mother Presentation (Mlle. deSiguenza), who was prioress in 1847; and lastly, Mother Saint Céligne(sister of Cerachhi the sculptor), who went mad; and Mother SaintChantal (Mlle. de Suzon), who also went mad. Among the prettiest wasa charming girl of three-and-twenty, who belonged to the Bourbonnais,and was descended from the Chevalier Roze, who was called in the worldMlle. Roze, and in religion Mother Assumption.
Mother Saint Mechtilde, who had charge of the singing arrangements,was glad to make use of the boarders for this purpose; she generallyselected a complete musical scale, that is to say, seven assortedvoices, from ten to sixteen years inclusive, whom she drew up ina line, ranging from the shortest to the tallest. In this way sheproduced a species of living Pandean pipes, composed of angels. Thelay sisters whom the boarders liked most were Sister Saint Euphrasie,Sister Saint Marguerite, Sister Saint Marthe, who was childish, andSister Saint Michel, at whose long nose they laughed. All these nunswere kind to the children, and only stern to themselves; there were nofires lit except in the schoolhouse, and the food there was luxuriouswhen compared with that of the convent. The only thing was that when achild passed a nun and spoke to her, the latter did not answer. Thisrule of silence produced the result that in the whole convent languagewas withdrawn from human creatures and given to inanimate objects.At one moment it was the church bell that spoke, at another thegardener's; and a very sonorous gong, placed by the side of the sisterporter, and which could be heard all through the house, indicated byvarious raps, which were a sort of acoustic telegraphy, all the actionsof natural life which had to be accomplished, and summoned a nun, ifrequired, to the parlor. Each person and each thing had its raps:the prioress had one and one, the sub-prioress one and two; six-fiveannounced school hour, so that the pupils talked of going to six-five;four-four was Madame Genlis' signal, and as it was heard very often,uncharitable persons said she was the "diable à quatre." Nineteenstrokes announced a great event; it was the opening of the cloisterdoor, a terrible iron plate all bristling with bolts, which onlyturned on its hinges before the archbishop. With the exception of thatdignitary and the gardener, no other man entered the convent; but theboarders saw two others,--one was the chaplain, Abbé Banès, an old uglyman, whom they were allowed to contemplate through a grating; while theother was M. Ansiaux, the drawing-master, whom the letter which wehave already quoted calls "M. Anciot," and describes as an odious oldhunchback. So we see that all the men were picked.
Such was this curious house.
